Texas House of Representatives

House Representative

Straus, Joe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 09/15/2017

SPEAKER STRAUS APPOINTS DR. MAHENDRA PATEL TO CPRIT BOARD

AUSTIN – Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has appointed Dr. Mahendra C. Patel of San Antonio to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Oversight Committee.

Dr. Patel is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist in San Antonio. He has an extensive record of leadership in the San Antonio medical community, including his time as the Medical Board Chair at Methodist Healthcare System and as the Chief of Staff at Methodist Children’s Hospital. While at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, he was instrumental in developing the division of pediatric neuro-oncology as a principal investigator on numerous phase one/two clinical trials researching brain tumors in pediatric patients.

He will fill a vacant position on the CPRIT board, and his term will expire in January 2021.

“Dr. Patel has dedicated his career to treating and helping children with cancer,” Speaker Straus said. “His experience on the front lines of fighting cancer will be invaluable to CPRIT. I’m grateful that someone who has done so much good work in the San Antonio community will now be helping to lead this very important agency.”

The CPRIT Oversight Committee was created by the 80th Legislature and approved by Texas voters in 2007. It serves as the governing body of CPRIT, which awards grants to expedite innovation in cancer research, help bring lifesaving cancer products to Texans and expand cancer prevention capabilities across the state.

The Speaker appoints three of the 11 members who serve on the CPRIT Oversight Committee.

“We are working to eradicate cancer on multiple fronts from prevention, early detection, to curing cancer using innovative multi-modal systems and also to cure cancer with a continuum of medical and non-medical interventions,” Dr. Patel said. “I look forward to working with the members of the CPRIT Oversight Committee and above all to serving the people of Texas as we continue the fight against cancer.”